Objective Investigate the gonadal hormonal function in sickle cell individuals. Context Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with delayed physical and sexual development, and it has been related to both primary testicular failure and hypothalamo‐pituitary‐gonadal axis abnormalities. Design The study of the pituitary gonadotrophin reserve was done evaluating the hormonal levels before and after stimulation by gonadoliberin. Patients Male patients with homozygous SCD (18‐39 years, median = 29.5 years). Measurements Gonadal function was evaluated through clinical parameters and the hormonal quantification. Results Although low body weight and other clinical signs of undernutrition such as clinical hypoandrogenism and the extreme retardation of puberty were seen in these patients, final stature and hormonal testicular reserve to hCG stimulation were proved to be normal according to our previous data. In the present investigation, the basal luteotropic gonadotropin (LH), follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone (T) levels were similar between the patients and controls. Prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) levels—used as a biochemical marker of androgenicity, mainly in puberty—were lower in the patients than in the controls and were only correlated with T. A subtle abnormality in the pituitary responsivity to gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) was disclosed, with a higher response to LH 60 minutes after stimulation in patients than in controls. Conclusions These data, in addition to both the clinical and biochemical signs of hypoandrogenism associated with normal to elevated T levels strongly suggest a peripheral origin of hypogonadism, which is probably due to androgen resistance in the patients with SCD.

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This study showed that the values of haematological parameters, especially haematocrit, Hb, MCV, MCH, MCHC and red blood cell distribution width (RDW), are lower in patients with IDA, especially when associated with α-thal and therefore it may be useful to discriminate between the different types of microcytic anaemia.

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Malaria is a neglected tropical disease, whose main form of transmission occurs through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito infected by the parasite Plasmodium sp. Its clinical symptoms range from asymptomatic cases to more severe and fatal conditions. Added to this natural transmission mechanism, many studies report that Malaria is one of the main infectious diseases transmitted by transfusion. There are reports of prevalence among blood donors in the five continents, with the highest number of cases in Africa, Asia and South America, regions of high endemicity. Factors such as the high prevalence rate of asymptomatic malaria carriers, as well as deficient regulation in the screening of blood donors and an ineffective hemovigilance policy make the risk of Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria (TTM) worse, exposing millions of people possible contamination by transfusion, especially in underdeveloped countries. Patients with underlying diseases or immunosuppressed who require polytransfusions are the most susceptible to TTM. After an eventual transfusion of bags contaminated by Plasmodium sp, these patients can develop the most severe form of the disease, presenting high-risk clinical complications that can culminate in fatal outcomes. In view of the facts and aiming at greater transfusion safety, it is observed that stricter regulatory policies aimed at preventing TTM are needed; such policies will be more comprehensive if coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and more effective if they are adequate to the reality of endemic and non-endemic countries. In blood banks, control measures should focus mainly on broad serological coverage with high performance tests, in addition to active hemovigilance programs and encouragement of research and implementation of methods of inactivation of pathogens in blood component bags. Given the above, this study was carried out with the aim of providing knowledge of the current panorama of the prevalence of malaria among blood donors and of documented cases of TTM around the world, as well as demonstrating the disease tracking methodologies in use in different countries, and present possibilities for adopting mechanisms that allow better control of the transfusional transmission of malaria in blood banks.